How would i find out how many emigrant workers were buried in salem, oregon building the old railroad?

Question

in the bathroom, me and a friend, talking.. then the old railroad construction came up, and the number of deaths and local salem, oregon burials of emigrant workers building it came in to question.

Answer 1

Poppy-

I can tell you that the Railroads did not bury folks in the roadbed.  I can tell you that the death toll on the high country of this country was pretty bad.

However, if you would like to learn more about the history of Western Railroading, you might just check out the State of California Railroad Museum's website.

If you are interested, the museum is located in Old Town Sacramento and quite frankly is one of the west coasts best railroad museums.  

I also beleive that Porland, Oregon and Seattle, Washington have fairly substantial museums of this type.

But most significantly the club that can get you pointed in the right direction would be Friends of 4449 out of the Brooklyn Train Yard in Portland Oregon.  Look them up and by all means take a tour of their Roundhouse!  You might just be suprised!

Good Luck!

Answer 2

google

Answer 3

There's no way to really tell because there are no markers and few deaths were recorded by the railroads. What deaths that were recorded were a result of a train wreck or natural disaster that delayed the railroads.

Answer 4

Nope, i doubt it,

There were quite a few deaths on all the early lines.

But  there were also some unscrupulous track foremen that would continue to draw pay for the dead workers and keep it themselves.

The actual number as far as I know were never documented because most of the workers themselves were not documented.

Whatever numbers you find are likely to be half the actual numbers.

But I gotta ask. . . . . . . is this the kind of deep probing conversations you and your freind usually have in the bathroom?